Australian Scott Strange fired a five-under-par 67 yesterday to win the Myanmar Open in Yangon for his first Asian Tour title.

　　Strange finished with a four-day 11-under-par 277 to dash overnight leader Thongchai Jaidee's hopes of defending his title at Yangon Golf Club.

　　Canadian Rick Gibson finished second with a 68, while Thai Thongchai and India's Ashok Kumar shared third place, two strokes off the lead after carding 74 and 72 respectively.

　　Leading by two shots going into the last day, Thongchai faded and lost his chance to retain his crown and add another win to his successful defense of the Malaysian Open title last Sunday.

　　Strange, playing in his third Asian Tour season, seized the opportunity and gave credit to his local caddie Zaw Moe. "I thought 67 might have a chance and I came out strong on the back nine. You have to play this course in a certain way and my caddie Zaw read some great lines all week," Strange said. "He picked everything out there."

　　Playing in the second last group in front of 7,500 spectators, Strange three putted the first hole for a bogey but came roaring back with a birdie on the third and seventh holes. On the inward stretch, Strange holed 30-footers for birdies on 12 and 13 to take a firm grip of the event and two more birdies on 15 and 17 sealed his win.

　　Despite a strong start, Thongchai hit four bogeys and a double bogey to put him out of contention.

　　"I didn't play well on the back nine and hit some poor drives. I lost my concentration out there and paid the price," said the Asian Tour money leader.

　　Chinese Taipei's Lu Wen-teh finished fifth with a 70, while Arjun Singh of India (71) was sixth.

　　In Christchurch, New Zealand, Australian Peter O'Malley beat compatriot Steven Bowditch on the fourth hole of a playoff yesterday to win the US$600,000 New Zealand PGA golf tournament.

　　O'Malley, who won the tournament in 2002 as the Clearwater Classic, sunk a 25-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the green on the troublesome 18th to win his second title on the US PGA's Nationwide Tour.

　　He missed short putts at the 18th on Saturday for the outright third-round lead and again yesterday for the tournament when he tried to stem a powerful charge from Bowditch, who tied the course record with his last-round 63.

　　"I still don't know how it didn't go in," O'Malley said of his final putt in regulation.

　　Bowditch, 21, was bidding for back-to-back titles on the Nationwide Tour after winning last week's Jacob's Creek Open in Adelaide, Australia.

　　(The Associated Press)